The Great Hammam in Prishtina

The Great Hammam in Prishtina
Conservation, Restoration and
Re-Functionalizing Project
Nol Binakaj
Architect
”Cultural Heritage without Borders”, Republic of Kosova
nbinakaj@gmail.com ; nol.binakaj@chwb.org
Abstract
Safeguarding of cultural heritage is a great challenge, especially in the
countries that are in transition phase. Sometimes the requirements of
our modern times are very selfish, and usually it ends up with
destroying remarkable values that have lived upon through the
centuries.
Feeling the risk that many of important buildings have been lost and
also the risk of loosing the others that were left in pretty bad
conditions, the restoration of the Great Hammam have been initiated,
although with experiencing of lots of difficulties, we realized that this
project in its own way is the learning process for the relevant
institutions and owners that weren’t able until now to deal with these
matters.
The process of conservation and restoration of the Great Hammam in
Prishtina, which is described in this study, through involving all
identified partners, stakeholders and community, intends to raise the
awareness and promote proper contemporary standards of reviving of
our historical buildings, which unfortunately its not the case to other
ongoing restoration project, but at the meantime to be able to generate
incomes and secure maintenance and sustainability of this building, so
the next generations can learn more and be proud of their history.
Characteristic view of the site where the Hammam is situated,
1
Nol Binakaj
Introduction
The Hammam’s/Turkish Baths are one of first buildings that were
built in city cores through all Ottoman Empire. In the region of
Kosovo there are left few example of this remarkable architecture,
which through centuries represented great social and cultural
values for all citizens. The one of the most important building is
Prishtina Hammam, and it was built in the second half of the 15th
century. Till last year the building was in very bad shape as a result
of the sporadic devastation of time factor and negligence of
respective institutions, especially in last decades. The CHwB in
cooperation with Municipality of Prishtina have initiated its saving
and until now have finished the first phase of restoration/structural
consolidation. The project is still ongoing and according to the
financial means secured and the problematic of interventions the
project will last another two years. This process aims to identify
the responsibilities and key actors in maintaining and welfare of
this important monument, and also to have different options that
will secure the needed incomes to functionalize this building and
secure the sustainability of it.
Photo from the above of the Hammam, Year 1955
View of the Hammam from street,
Background
The city of Pristina is situated in the south eastern edge of the great
high Kosovo Plateau, at an altitude of 700 meters. Having rich
natural resources and an important geographical position, it is at
the meeting point of routes from the west, east and north of the
Balkans. The region's history goes back to the 4th millennium BC;
Neolithic, stone and bronze age, succeeded in the 2nd millennium
BC. by the Illyrians, and in the 1st century AD by the Roman
Empire. The Middle Ages were dominated by the Byzantine and
Ottoman empires.
Flag of Kosova,
In the 14th century Kosovo fell to the Turks. In the late 14th
century, during Ottoman rule, Prishtina grew as a characteristic
oriental urban settlement with various building types, including
Mosques, hammams, shops, and houses. It was an important centre
for culture, art, trade, religious and caravan routes.
The oldest part of the settlement contains the Fatih Sultan Mehmet
II Mosque, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Han Hammam (The Great
Hammam), bazaar, traditional houses, the clock tower, han, tyrbe
etc.
Situation of Prishtina
Year 2007
Conservation and Restoration of the Great Hammam
The Great Hammam in Pristina (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Han Hammam)
is important historic monument in an equally important urban
ensemble in the centre of Prishtina. The proximity of three historic
Mosques, a clock tower, several listed houses, and a bazaar, together
with its position on a major public route through the city present
opportunities to develop and revive the site as a public destination.
Map of Prishtina Historic Core, Protected
Monuments by law, and Destroyed ones;
View of the building just before the restoration
According to the little information’s and document which were at the
disposal, the building is supposed that its been built in the XV
century, respectively in 1461, as a facility building for the Fatih
Mosque, and its local community. As a hammam, or public bath, it
has been used by the general public of Prishtina for many
generations, until its original function was abandoned in the 1960s.
From this time mainly in the buildings was intervened without
criteria, in interior and exterior many openings have been created, but
also the installation of new water supply and sewage system have
resulted into loosing lots of valuable built details and weakening of its
built structure.
Since 1989 no maintenance work has been carried out despite the
building’s status as one of the oldest Ottoman structures in the
historic part of Pristina and a rare and valuable example of public
architecture of this type. During this time the building has been used
as a storage for construction materials, and partially, the main
entrance halls were adopted as a shops. In year 1995 the shops, the
eastern part of the building, has burned down. In this occasion the
main entrance halls have suffered a lot, where the walls were the
rebuilt walls and together with the roof covering were done in very
unprofessional and improper way. This part of the building continued
to be used for shops until recently, when the first conservation
activities have been started, in year 2007, while the other part of the
building was left to ruins.
Architecture of the Great Hammam
As a typology, Prishtina’s Hammam is a “double hammam”, with
separate sections for both men and women and it has a space of
approximately 800 m2. It has a regular quadrant shape, it is consisted
by the “cold” section (entrance hall), and “hot” section ( the baths).
The “hot” section is covered from 16 domes of different size,
constructed above pandantives and arches. The lightning of this part is
from above, done through small holes to prevent the lost of heat in this
area. The entrance halls originally are supposed to be covered with
domes, but we didn’t find the traces of this kind of construction. Now
days the main halls are covered with four slopes roof construction.
Nol Binakaj
The great Hammam of Prishtina consists of these areas:
-
Entrance hall “shadervan”, as a part of the preparation for
the bath, it is been called also the cold section.
Middle warm area, or” kapallek”,
Main heated area, where the massages were done,
Hammam’s, or area for washing,
Water tank, “hazna” and
Stove, “kylhan”.
Heating of the building has been done with steam through the
hypocausts placed beneath the marble floor.
The walls are from stone, while the domes are constructed from
brick, in exterior were covered with lead sheets, while in the
interior they were plastered with “horasan” mortar, a special
traditional mortar which is resistant to humidity. The techniques of the
building are traditional ones, by using regular shaped carved stones in
the corners of the walls, and linked with lime mortar.
Since 1985 the Institute for Protection of Monuments of Kosova
designated as a cultural historic Monument with Regional importance,
and it is protected by the law for Protection of the Monument
nr.19/77.
Today the building is owned today by the Municipality, and until the
beginning of the conservation activities was deteriorating rapidly due
to accumulating structural damage, inappropriate earlier interventions
and neglect. A conservation project was therefore urgent. Although
the hammam has been pretty much modified, particularly to the east
and the main public face of the building, the underlying plan form and
much of its original structure still remain.
Analysis
As the building was exposed to the several changes through the
centuries and was devastated due to misuse and neglect, still its values
can be categorized as high importance in an historic context of the
city of Prishtina, as these type of the buildings are among the first
ones that were build in cities in Ottoman Period. But the main values
that this building represents are related to society, social and civic
respect, as the building presented gathering point, where among the
healthcare and hygiene of the people, also discussions related to
different issues could be done.
Functioning of the Hammam
Conservation and Restoration of the Great Hammam
Problems
Serious amounts of the original details and features have been lost due
to the radically changes that were done, especially in the period after
the Second World War. The building from the classical Turkish bath
was changed into the “modern” public bath, where the system of it
was changed radically, especially on installing the modern equipments
and materials. So parallel to physical lost that this building
experienced, also the social and environmental values were lost until
of closing of it, a action which made the building become a storage for
construction material. By neglecting of this building, and several ones
in this historical zone, indirect was allowed that the whole zone, in
urban context, to be devastated from the raising of new uncontrolled
built structures.
As a result of abovementioned facts the building required immediate
attention. Mainly, in physical aspect of the building, the problems
which have occurred during our investigation phase were : Surface
loss, cavities, cracks, element loss, detachment of plaster, high level of
moisture, early improper additions and repairs, late additions and
improper interventions, corrosion and formations of plants.
Solutions
There were undertaken several steps that, in general they presented
crucial moves to begin with solving of the problems in the initial
phases of the project, as well as in continuation of it, as it is still far
away from accomplishing of the project:
•
By creating the Steering Board for the project and involving all
parties such as related institutions, owner of the building,
experts and local community, it was needed to manage the
project, but also send the clear message and determination to
save this building.
•
Parallel to the steering board the Council of Experts was
constituted. This council was formed with international and
local experts of different profiles, and their duties are to decide
about the alternatives for different matter and offer the
solutions for conservation and restoration in accordance with
international principles and the requirements for good
functioning of the building.
•
Creating the team for Supervision of the work, in close
cooperation with the team that designs the Conservation and
Restoration project.
Nol Binakaj
These three bodies that are mentioned presents the regulatory of this
project, where all the voices and thoughts in the sake of the
safeguarding of this building were addressed, but also to ensure the
quality of the works done in aspect of usage of the materials,
techniques and respect of the international principles of restoration.
Proposal
Based on the existing state and survey analyses of the pathologies, the
Interventions for conservation and restoration of this building have
been divided into Three Phases.
First Phase /
Advanced investigation of the built structure, and its
consolidation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cutting of the plants and trees re-growing on the roof of the
facades of the hammam.
Removing of the corrupted lead sheets on the roof and
depleting the plants and the roots placed under, using the
same method.
Scraping the latter added plaster, especially around the
cracks to determine the exact dimensions and character of
the crack.
Laboratory analyzing of the original building material
samples.
Scraping the plaster inside, especially in the parts where later
cement plaster were added.
Removing the additional concrete and terrazzo floor, in order
to examine precisely the situation in the hypocausts and the
basement.
Removing of latter added walls and features, chosen after
structural evaluation.
Second Phase /
Structural Restoration
•
•
•
•
•
Depleting of the dried tree roots from the roof and facades.
Re-covering of the roof and domes with lead sheets after
installation of structural repairs, as foreseen in structural
consolidation project.
Stitching of the cracks with appropriate methods, suggested in
the structural consolidation project.
Partial re-plastering of the interior walls, with original plaster
formula determined with laboratory analyses.
Rebuilding the appropriate floor, based on the found remaining
of the floors.
Conservation and Restoration of the Great Hammam
Third Phase /
Re-Functioning
The new function of the Hammam is decided to be a multifunctional
space with cultural character. The restoration project proposal of the
re-functioning of the hammam consists of open spaces for temporary
exhibitions, workshop, conferences and performance halls.
The building will be delivered to the Institute for Protection of
Monuments, and Regional Museum of Prishtina, (IPMRM of
Prishtina) which is part of municipality structures. The decision was
based on the facts that :
• The IPMRM of Prishtina has needs for exhibiting the
archaeological items that were found in the region of
Prishtina,
• IPMRM of Prishtina has potential and human resources to run
and also maintain the building,
• The multifunctional aspect of the building makes it possible
financial profit in order that the building can gain the
autonomy from Municipality in financial aspect. They would
rent out the spaces for different events (conferences,
workshops etc).
Method
All the conservation actions that were undertaken were done based on
the previous information that could be founded. We have also relied
into the existing state of the building, as the building itself is the best
and most trusted source of the information in these cases.
Regarding this matter the activities were concentrated in the carefully
cleaning of the building, from the plants that were growing in the
structures, removal of later additions of plasters in interior and
exterior through latter added wall separations and concrete floors.
It was obvious, as the building seemed quite complicated, it is needed
to engaged professional team, in this case from Turkey, that by using
contemporary methods of surveying the building, we could identify
the main structural and technical problems that were present. In
meantime the structural analyses of the building were done, in order to
supervise its behaviour after the removal of latter additions, and
propose the consolidation options.
Nol Binakaj
By knowing the existing state of the building it was possible to initiate
and compile the measures that were needed to be undertaken for
structure consolidation. The most convenient for the council of experts
was to do the strengthening of the structure by using the carbon
fibbers and wraps, as a new technology but also based on the strategy
of “minimum intervention, maximum saving”.
Beside the works on site, which were all the time supervised by the
experts the discussions for the future usage of the building were
initiated, so the team of designers from Turkey could offer several
options of the function, based on the requirements of the project
board. Currently the option for its new usage was chosen.
Cross section of building, existing state (the measurements were done by using Total Station)
The budget for completing all needed works was secured by the
Municipality of Prishtina, and SIDA.
No.
Actions
Timetable
Budget (Euro)
First Phase /
1
Advanced investigation of the built structure, and
its consolidation
2007 - 2008
190.000 €
2
Second Phase /
2008 – 2009
280.000 €
2009 - 2010
220.000 €
Structural Restoration
3
Third Phase /
Re-Functioning
Conservation and Restoration of the Great Hammam
Current Status of the Work
Currently the First Phase of the activities on site has been finished.
Parallel to advanced investigations that were done, also the
restoration project design has been brought to its final stages, by
taking into consideration the additional information’s that were found
on site during the investigations, and also by taking into account the
new decisions from the board of project and council of experts, which
were the results of long discussions. The Second Phase of restoration
works is in its initial stage, and based on the budget that is in disposal
this phase will end in the second half of the year 2009.
Conclusions
Although the process is in its mid terms, with our efforts, especially in
initial stages of the project, it was possible to create a model example
of restoration for the city of Prishtina, in sense of the professional
approach, high respect of international restoration criteria’s, but also
when it comes to the involvement of all main actors, that have key
role in the future, and to present ability of gaining from this process,
in social and economical aspect.
Taking into the consideration of the whole historic core, the
restoration and re-usage of this building will aim to launch a chain
reaction for other monuments of the area, preserve and maintain
them, to include them into the priority lists of the respective
institutions, in order that this zone can once again gain its complexity,
gain in gravity for the citizens that are longing for an area such as this
- a cultural “living” centre.
Nol Binakaj
Photos
Photos used in the paper were done by:
Old Photos of Prishtina ,
Institute for Protection of Monuments and Reginal Museum of
Prishtina,
Existing State, Restoration photos,
MP Design & Const.ltd.co Turkey
Drawings
MP Design & Const.ltd.co Turkey
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
SAPK, Spomemici kulture na Kososvo, Pristina, 1971, 128
Evlija Celebi : Putopis, Svetlost -Sarajevo, 1957/ 1979
Ayverdi Dr. Ekrem Hakki: Avrupa'da Osmanli Mimari
Eserleri-Yougoslavya, Istanbul 1981
Skender Rizaj: Kosova gjate shekujve XV,VI dhe XVII,1982
Raif Virmica: Kosovo Hamamlari, 2002, Kultur Bakanligi,
Ankara, Turkey
Fejaz Drancolli: Disa ndertimearkitektonike islamete shek XV,
Feja, kultura dhe tradita islame nder
shqiptaret,Simposium,1995
Fejaz Drancolli : Monumentet e Prishtines, Oferta suksesi,
Prishtine 2004
Conservation and Restoration of the Great Hammam
Annex 1
Functioning Structure of the Project
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Annex 2
Re-Functioning Scheme / New Owner and potentials for
running the building
New Function Scheme
Conservation and Restoration of the Great Hammam
Nol Binakaj